Rough Draft Studios, Inc. (RDS) was founded in 1991 in a Van Nuys garage. Over the last
-years the Studio has evolved beyond its humble beginnings into a highly regarded animation production company in film & television. Rough Draft specializes in traditional character animation, computer animation, and the blend of both mediums (as showcased in The Simpsons Movie and the Emmy Award winning series Futurama).

The studio houses an incomparable staff of directors and artists in its very own stylin' building, conveniently located on the Glendale/Burbank city line. RDS has produced over 200 half-hours of prime-time animation including: Futurama, Full English, Napoleon Dynamite, Sit Down, Shut Up, Drawn Together, Baby Blues, and The Maxx.

The Studio is currently in production on Futurama - Season Seven, and Full English for Great Britain. Recent work includes,Napoleon Dymamite, The Simpsons Movie, four Futurama Direct-to-DVD Features, Sit Down, Shut Up, Pink Panther 2 - Opening Titles, Drawn Together, and Star Wars: Clone Wars Parts I & II.

Annie Nomination
for Outstanding Achievement in a Primetime Animated Television Production Futurama

The Reuben Award
for Best in Television Animation Division, National Cartoonist’s Society
Rich Moore, Futurama

1995

Annecy Award for Best Series
"The Maxx"

Dubious Distinctions

2000

British Columbia’s Teen Tobacco Team
Winner of The Black Lung Award
Futurama

1996-2006

Host of the most infamous
Halloween Party in town.

CREW

Gregg Vanzo – Director, President

Gregg has served as Supervising Director on The Maxx, Futurama, and Sit Down, Shut Up. In addition to his work as a Sequence Director on The Simpson Movie, he has overseen the animation for numerous film and television projects such as Futurama, Ren & Stimpy, Beavis & Butthead (Series & Feature), Powerpuff Girls (Series & Feature), Family Guy, Kim Possible, Stitch! The Movie, and several Looney Tunes Theatrical shorts for Warner Bros.. Gregg has received an Annecy Award for his groundbreaking work on The Maxx and two Emmy Awards for Futurama.

Claudia Katz – Producer, Executive Vice President

Claudia joined Rough Draft in 1994 to produce The Maxx. Since then she has produced numerous projects for film and television including:
Futurama – the series, Napoleon Dynamite, Full English, Happy Families, Sit Down, Shut Up, all four Futurama DVD features, The Simpsons Movie, Drawn Together, Star Wars: Clone Wars I & II, Baby Blues, Spy Vs. Spy, the Looney Tunes Theatrical Shorts; Duck Dodgers – Attack of the Drones and The Whizzard of Ow, the CBS pilot - Vinyl Café and the Cartoon Network pilot - Nancy Stellar. She is currently working on Futurama - Season 7, Full English, various pilots, and in-house development. Claudia has received an Annecy Award for her work on The Maxx, Emmy and Hugo Awards for Futurama, Emmy Awards for Star Wars: Clone Wars I & II, and Annie Awards for the Bender's Big Score, Beast With A Billion Backs, and Into The Wild Green Yonder.

Scott Vanzo – Director of CGI, Chief Technology Officer

Scott joined Rough Draft in 1993 to set up one of the first Digital Ink & Paint and Camera production facilities, as well as a 3-D Animation Department for production on The Maxx. Specializing in integrating 3-D and traditional animation, Scott has overseen the CG for projects such as:
Futurama - the series, Napoleon Dynamite, Full English, Sit Down, Shut Up, all four of the Futurama Direct-to-DVD features,The Simpsons Movie, Drawn Together, Star Wars: Clone Wars I & II, Baby Blues, the Looney Tunes Theatrical Shorts; Duck Dodgers - Attack of the Drones and The Whizzard of Ow, and The Maxx. He is currently at work on Futurama - Season 7. Scott has received Emmy Awards for his work on Star Wars: Clone Wars I & II.

Hyejoon Yun – International Liaison

Hyejoon joined Rough Draft in 1992 and coordinates all of our and our clients productions with the overseas studio - Rough Draft Korea. She is in constant communication with Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Disney Television, Warner Bros. Animation, Curious Pictures, and other various clients (including our own productions) in regards to the overseas studio.

Peter Avanzino – Staff Director, Supervising Director

Peter joined Rough Draft Studios in 1998 to direct on the first season of Futurama, going on to direct on all 7 seasons as well as two of the Direct-to-DVD movies; Beast With A Billion Backs, and Into The Wild Green Yonder. He is currently serving as Supervising Director on Futurama - Season 7. While at Rough Draft, Peter has also served as Supervising Director on Sit Down, Shut Up, Drawn Together and Baby Blues. Previously, he directed on numerous television series' such as Duckman, Ren & Stimpy, and The Wild Thornberry's and storyboarded for shows such as The Simpsons, Ren & Stimpy, and Rugrats. Peter has received an Emmy Award for his work on Futurama, Annie Awards for the DVD movies; Futrama: The Beast with a Billion Backs and ,B.Into The Wild Green Yonder , Hugo Awards for Drawn Together, and an Emmy nomination for Duckman.

Dwayne Carey-Hill – Staff Director, Supervising Director

Dwayne came to Rough Draft in 1996 to work on Spy VS Spy for Mad TV, and has been on staff ever since. He is currently serving as Supervising Director on Full English - Season 1. He has directed on Futurama - Seasons 4, 6 and 7, as well as Sit Down, Shut Up, Drawn Together and the direct-to-DVD features Bender's Big Score and Bender's Game. In addition, Dwayne was an assistant director/ character designer/ layout artist on Futurama - the series, and an animator on the Looney Tunes Theatrical Short; Duck Dodgers - Attack of the Drones, Baby Blues and the CBS pilot - Vinyl Café. Dwayne has received an Annie Award for his work on the DVD movie, Futurama: Bender's Game and a Hugo Award for his work on Drawn Together.

Crystal Chesney-Thompson – Director

Crystal joined Rough Draft in 2000 as a Layout Artist on Futurama and has become a Staff Director for the Studio. Her most recent directorial work can be seen on the all new Season 7 of Futurama, Napoleon Dynamite, and Sit Down, Shut Up. Other work at Rough Draft includes; The Simpsons Movie, all four Futurama DVD Movies, the opening titles for Pink Panther 2, Drawn Together, Looney Tunes, and pilots for CBS and Cartoon Network. Crystal has also worked on several features including Horton Hears a Who, The Spongebob SquarePants Movie, and Curious George.